On June 28th, 2006 Obama made a huge speech in Washington, DC on atheists and faith. It may be the most important pronouncement by a Democrat on faith and politics since John F. Kennedy’s Houston speech in 1960 declaring his independence from the Vatican. Obama offers the first faith testimony I have heard from any politician that speaks honestly about the uncertainties of belief.
I think its important that he points out that “if we don’t reach out to evangelical Christians and other religious Americans and tell them what we stand for, then the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons and Alan Keyeses will continue to hold sway.”
He speaks about his religious experience not to make atheists uncomfortable, but rather to tap into the language of morality of a nation of christians.
Just a warning, this is not a campaign video full of sound bites. This is a long Obama speech where he goes into real detail on some of his social and “moral” agenda. Its very interesting.
My personal favorite quote, “Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason.”
[...] Henkhaus: He speaks about his religious experience not to make atheists uncomfortable, but rather to tap into the language of morality of a nation of christians. [...]